Beyond the Bat
by Dr.camfiction
Summary: Batman has been Gotham's knight for many years, but when disaster strikes, can anyone accept the duty of Gotham's new hero? (Takes place before the events of Under the Red hood, with Jason as Robin.)
1. Chapter 1

The rain poured down from the sky. A figure flew by, merely a shadow amongst others. A shadow that others feared. A shadow they called "Batman".

Bruce landed on the rooftop, softly. Robin proceeded to do the same. They were above the old toy factory, the one that had been shut down years ago. Joker was here. They'd been tracking him for weeks. Since he was broken out of Arkham by Harley, he'd been doing his usual, terrorizing Gotham with explosives and bloody messes. Finding him had been difficult, until Bruce had managed to get a tracker on Harley. Jason smirked. It _had_ been his idea. Now they were here, about to nab Gotham's worst, all because Jason had decided to use his head. Not that Bruce gave him much credit anyway. why couldn't he at least give a little recognition?That wasn't too much to ask, was it? Just to be - "Jason!" Jason snapped back to attention as Bruce glared at him. "Don't doze off, this important. The Joker is relentless, and minute he could be laughing at you, the next, beating you with a crowbar. Don't get caught off guard"

Jason opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. But did Bruce really think he was off guard right now? He _knows_ how dangerous the Joker is, he didn't need a reminder! Whatever. Maybe after tonight Bruce would be proud of him. He focused back on the mission. They had already deduced that Joker was on the Third floor, now getting there undetected would be the hard part. Bruce pried open the hatch on the roof, and began to descend. There were only 4 floors in the building, so the roof had been the quickest way. Batman saw the stairs, and began to seemingly float down them, not making a sound. Sometimes he wondered how Bruce managed to do that. Then again, he could too. As Jason crept, he could hear a noise, faintly, off in the distance. It sounded like - laughter? as they crept around the corner, Jason could tell now, this was the ominous laughter of none other than the Joker himself, Harley giggling along.

Jason and Bruce ducked behind some crates. They now had a clear view of the Joker, who was sitting in a comfy chair and laughing his ass off about something. Jason scowled. Whatever it was, he sure wished the clown would shut up soon. Some found the laugh scary. Jason just found it annoying. Suddenly, the laughter ceased. The Joker grinned." Oh Harley baby, I believe our guests have arrived. Won 't you be a good girl and get them a welcoming present?" Harley giggled." Sure thing Mistah J! Where are they?" Joker snickered and said " Oh they're being shy. Don't worry, they're right over there." Joker pointed calmly- in their direction. Harley giggled that nauseating giggle again, and began to trot over to them, bazooka in hand.

Bruce leapt out from behind the crate, and all hell broke loose. Harley fired, but missed due to a neat mid- air turn by Bruce. He threw a swift punch to her temple , and she slumped down onto the floor. Bruce began to advance towards Joker. The clown merely grinned, and held up something in his hand- a detonator. " Oh Batsy, you old spoil-sport did i know you'd stop by for a visit? I'm guessing you're not here for a friendly cup of tea, eh?" A fit of maniacal laughter followed. Jason snarled. This clown was really starting to get on his nerves. Joker noticed the dirty look. "You keep making that face, bird boy , and i'll blow it off!" He turned back to Bruce. " As for you, if you're not here for tea I guess you just got bored and came to see me for a bit of fun! Well you're in luck! I have a new game for us! In this one, yo have to make a choice. In my hand, I hold a detonator. The big red button here sets off the bombs early. This little switch here decides which bombs it blows up in about ,oh I don't know, say about 4 minutes and 20 seconds? If the switch is up, it blows up bombs set all over Gotham. If the switch is down, it blows up this warehouse. Sound fun? Good, because if the device is broken, both sets of bombs go off immediately ."

"Disarm them, Joker" Batman growled. 'Now." Joker laughed him off "Oh but what would be the fun in that? C'mon, bats, make a choice..." That was it. Bruce was doing nothing, and they were not getting _anywhere_. Without thinking Jason hurled a Birdarang that embedded itself in the Joker's arm. Joker dropped the detonator, and Bruce made a dive for it. It landed safely on his palm, and he began to retreat in order to not give Joker a chance to grab it back. Joker glared at Jason. "Not nice, bird brain. But don't worry, we still have more games."

Joker pushed a button on the arm of his chair, and the room began to fill with a green mist- Joker venom. Jason tugged his gas mask on, Bruce attempting to do the same."Nuh-uh, Batsy,now that's just cheating." Joker squeezed the flower on his jacket, and out squirted a thin stream of acid- that landed right on Bruce's gas mask. As the acrid liquid burned through the mask , Joker leapt down and hit Bruce over the head with a metal bar. " Now calm down Batsy. This isn't your usual joker venom. It won't kill you it'll just... paralyze you." Bruce fell to the floor, breathing in the toxic fumes. Joker snatched the detonator out of a now paralyzed Bruce's hand." I'll take _that_ back now, thank you very mu-" He was interrupted by a kick to the jaw, and another to the stomach. Jason snatched the metal rod from Joker and threw it. As Joker doubled over in pain, he laughed. "You've got moxie kid! Now normally , I feed moxie to the hyenas, but since they aren't around..." Joker grabbed a knife from his waist and chucked it at Jason. It embedded itself into his side, and Jason felt a warm trickle down his side before another punch met his stomach. He caught Joker's next punch, and twisted his wrist into an unnatural angle,and heard a small snap. He swept his leg under the Joker and watched the clown tumble to the tossed a Birdarang and watched it entangle itself around joker. He grabbed the detonator from Joker's hand. "I'll take that back now, thank you very much."

He looked at the detonator. It read 1 minute and 43 seconds, and the switch was up , this was an easy decision. He flipped the switch down. He grabbed Bruce, and deployed his grappling gun out the window. Wow, Bruce was heavy. He glanced back at Joker. Should he save him?He slowly turned around. No. He wouldn't save Joker. Besides, it was not the same as killing him, right? He swung from the window.

He didn't know how what happened next happened. He had stopped Joker, saved Bruce, and it all, in an instant, went wrong. It seemed to happen instant by instant, in slowed time. One minute he was swinging to safety. The next, he was falling. He looked up, and saw Joker, sneering, holding a knife in his hand.

Joker. Yes, it had been Joker who'd thrown the knife. Joker who made them fall, right next to the building. Joker, who laughed as the bombs went off.


	2. Chapter 2: Failure

Pain.

That was all he could feel, was a deep, piercing pain screaming through his entire body. He felt as though a mountain had fell on him- or a building, anyways. There were rocks all over him. Breathing felt impossible , every breath felt like an arrow piercing through his chest, and his throat burned from all the soot he was breathing in. It felt like it took all of his strength to start digging his way up. He moved rock after rock, feeling as though the pile on top of him was endless. It seemed like an eternity before his hand reached and finally met empty air. He jerked his head up to try and catch some fresh air, but immediately wished he hadn't. Pain rushed through his head in one powerful wave, and he fell back to the ground.

He forced his stinging eyes open. At first, everything seemed blurry. Then he realized it was just all the smoke in the air. He tried to recollect his thoughts. He had fallen, hadn't he? Yes, he'd fallen trying to save- Jason gasped "Bruce!" he croaked. Yelling felt impossible. Panic flooded over him. Where was Bruce!? He began digging through the rubble, ignoring the immense pain surging through every cell in his body." Bruce." He kept whispering, fighting back tears. "Bruce?" He felt helpless. How could he have been so stupid? Of course a single Birdarang wouldn't hold Joker! He was, after all, the Joker. The tears began to flow down his cheeks.

Jason tried to control himself Why was he crying? Bruce wasn't some regular guy, he was Batman! Batman couldn't die...right? He hit something. Something that felt different from the rubble around him. He clawed around it, until he could clearly see what it was.

In front of him, he saw half of a badly burned cowl, broken off of the rest of the suit. There was blood on the back of it. Right then, Jason felt something he'd never felt before. At least, not this strong. Failure. He sat down in defeat, and cried. He had _failed_ him. And it cost him his life. He felt sad and angry at the same time. Why couldn't he have died instead? Bruce would be strong enough to accept and get over a death but... Jason winced, and realized that he had to be strong too,now. To do otherwise would be to fail Bruce again. _Failure_. The wretched word kept ringing in his head, refusing to leave him alone. He ignored it. He began to walk away. Well, limp away.

Until he heard a sickening chuckle behind him. He spun around, and found himself face to face with him. _The Joker._ The sick bastard who had caused all of this. He was limping, and had ugly burns all over his body. Blood soaked what was left of his tattered suit.

"So you're here too, kid? Funny, I though Batsy would be the one joining me here." Jason growled. Why couldn't this bastard make sense for once!? "what are you talking about, _Clown!?"_ He spat the last word out with extra disgust. "Well, we're in Hell, aren't we? So I figured If anyone were going to join me here, it would be Bats."

Jason was silent for a moment, absorbing what Joker had just said. A sudden flood of rage flowed through him. "IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK THIS IS, YOU STUPID FUCKING CLOWN!?" He shrieked. "BRU- BATMAN IS _DEAD,_ AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!'

Joker then did something unexpected. Jason had expected the clown to laugh again, or at least mock him. But instead, he just began to chuckle, almost nervously. "D-dead, you say?" Jason nodded silently, unsure of where this was going. Joker kept chuckling. "N-no. NO! He wasn't supposed to... we were supposed to... together..." The Joker trailed off. He continued to giggle manically , falling to his knees. Th e giggles slowly morphed into loud sobs, and tears fell down his face. The Joker then did something Jason never thought he'd do.

He shut up. No laughing, no crying, just...silence. It was eery, really, seeing Joker of all people so quiet. Jason shuddered, and began to walk away, leaving the wreckage behind him. He thought for a moment about killing the clown, but immediately disregarded the thought. That would just be another failure.


	3. Chapter 3

_**20 years later.**_

Jason lay down on the dusty mattress. He could hear the police sirens outside, wailing. Then again, when weren't they nowadays? He wondered what the trouble was now. He walked towards his cracked window, and peered out of the curtains. He saw a red glow filling the city center, the red glow illuminating the night sky.

Jason sighed. Another riot. Now, he suddenly wished he hadn't looked. Every time he did, he was reminded of his failure to this city. He had tried to protect the city at first, but it all fell apart. Dick had tried to help, but he couldn't take care of Bludhaven _and_ Gotham, even with Jason's help. Even thinking of Dick hurt now. Tears began flowing again, as they did every night as memories of it flooded back.

The night he and Dick had gone on a patrol, and went after more than what they were looking for. After Bruce's death, everyone found out the identity of Batman. It wasn't long before Dick and Jason were found out too. They were forced to become underground, hiding from those that hated them. Until the government offered them a deal: if they hung up their capes for good, they would be taken off the radar and be given a chance to start had taken the deal. They had both profoundly refused.

That night, they were patrolling, and saw a riot outside of Dick's house. They were destroying it. Jason had gotten angry, and wanted to stop them, despite Dick telling him to just let it go. He'd gone anyway. Jason winced at the memory.

One stray bullet. That's all it had taken, for the last person Jason cared about to no longer exist. Another failure.

After that, he'd gone back to the white house and accepted their deal. And now here he was, a lonely 33 year old man officially known as "John Mays" .Of course, he regretted the decisions, and had tried to dish out justice once more. that was when the government had found him, shot him in the knee. Now he was forced to wear this cursed leg brace just to walk. Gotham had fallen apart, and it was all his fault.

Jason woke up to the sound of his alarm. He for work. He hated his job, nothing but a lonely store employee. He tugged on his uniform, and began to walk to work. He walked past the city's center, and saw all the charred buildings from the night before. A few minutes later, he arrived at Gotham Market , clocked in, and got started on his work.

"C'mon, Kyle, don't be a punk. We won't get caught." Jordan Kyle was 17, and skipping school for the first time. He and Jerry needed to see the movie _Trapped_ before the theater stopped showing it was 10 o' had 2 hours to kill before the theater opened. So far, they'd spent it roaming the city, stopping at various stores and seeing if there was anything they liked to buy. And now they where here, Gotham market, standing 6 feet behind their school principal.

They knew that Principal Reeney often left the school to his vice, Ms. Alexandria, but they'd had no idea they would run into him at the store. He wasn't facing them, so he hadn't seen them yet. Still, they had to be quiet in order to not catch his attention. They slowly began to back away, then turned and ran, bumping into an employee. The employee dropped the box of pasta sauce he was carrying , all the glasses inside shattering. He glared at them and they ran.

"Dumb kids" Jason muttered under his breath. Only two glasses had been shattered, but they would be taken from his paycheck. He saw a man turn around at the noise. He recognized the man as none other than Richard Reeney, principal at Gotham High. He chuckled. Barbara often described Reeney as 'a lazy bum with a degree.' Barbara was his vice principal, and had taken on the new name of Alexandria Egypse. He suddenly remembered something. A few weeks back, he'd visited her and seen her talking to a student- one of the boys he'd just seen, named Jordan. Or was it Kyle? He couldn't remember.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang. He turned and saw 4 men in masks, all holding guns. "No one move!" the biggest one shouted.

 _ **Well, Hell.**_


	4. Chapter 4

The men began to charge in, holding guns and sacks at the cashiers and customers. Jason glared at them. Even if he couldn't be Gotham's hero any more, he still despised scum like this. A thought creeped into his head, and he chuckled to himself. He slowly reached into the box, and pulled out a sauce can. One robber was close to him, holding a gun at and having him empty his pockets. He glanced around. No one was watching him, except the 2 kids, who were hiding behind a shelf. He hurled the can at the robber's head.

He hadn't lost his accuracy, he hit the man right on the head, and the man slumped to the ground after a satisfying smash. All the gunmen turned their attention in the direction of the noise. Jason ducked down, not to be seen.

" Who threw that! " yelled the biggest man. Jason grinned. The guy was only a few feet away. He grabbed another can, and hurled it in the man's direction. Another perfect shot, but another one saw him this time, and fired. Jason ducked back down, trying to ignore the pain that had shot up his arm. The man began to march towards the aisle Jason was in. Jason crept towards the corner silently. The moment the man turned the corner, Jason threw a punch at the man's jaw, and swept his feet out from under him, just like in the old days. He grabbed the gun from the man's hand.

The remaining two men were charging towards him, guns in hand. He shot the first one in the knee, then ducked to avoid getting shot in the head. Suddenly, he felt a rough hand on the back of his neck. It jerked him backwards and tossed him into a shelf. Jason looked up. The largest man had gotten back up, and was running towards him with a gun.

Jordan was frozen in terror. He couldn't believe what was the store was being robbed, and now this old guy was trying to stop them? He saw the man get thrown into a shelf, and then pick up a can from behind him. He threw the can at the robber's head, but missed. The robber got closer, and picked the old guy up by his neck. He held the gun to the man's face, and growled something at him.

Suddenly Jordan felt wrong. How could he just stand here and watch this man be killed after he had just tried to save all their lives? He grabbed a can from the shelf next to him and threw it as hard as possible. The can struck the man hard in his temple, and he fell to the floor. The sole remaining man looked scared for a second, then enraged as he shot at Jordan. Jordan ducked just in time, and the man went down after a loud bang. He looked up to see the old man holding a gun, and the robber on the floor, holding his knee.

Jason looked around. Everyone was staring at him. He slowly lowered the gun, and began to walk towards the two boys. "You two come with me." he ordered. They silently agreed, and followed him as he walked out the door.

A few minutes later, Jerry and Jordan were walking down the street silently with the old man,who was giving them this really fierce glare. The silence was unbearable to Jordan, as the questions flooded his head. Who was this man? How could he fight so well with that knee brace? Why had he asked them to follow him? He finally opened his mouth.

"Thank you." he said, nervous. He had sort of expected the man to loosen up, but instead the glare grew even angrier. "Why are you two idiots out here skipping school in the first place?" the old man spat. Jordan opened his mouth to say something, but could not think of a reasonable excuse. Luckily, Jerry took care of that for him. "There was no school for us today." Jerry replied, sounding as though he was actually being truthful. "Bullshit." the old man growled, much to Jordan's surprise. "I'm friends with your vice principal. There was school today. Now you two better get goin' over to that school before I let her know I caught a couple of her knuckleheads takin' a romp around town."

Jerry started to glare back at the old man. "You're bluffing," he scoffed."What's her name then?" Jason glared back at the boy. He hated it when criminals got smart with him, so he _sure_ didn't need any lip from some bratty teenager. "Alexandria." he finally replied. "Alexandria Egypse.".

Jerry's eyes widened, and he began to run off in the direction of the school. Jordan remained motionless next to the man. the old man turned to look at him. "You still think I'm bluffing? Why are you still here?" Jordan didn't know what to say. Honestly, he didn't even know why he hadn't run as well. He tried to think, and decided to ask a question that had been bugging him since they left the store.

"Why?" He blurted out. The man looked at him oddly. "Why what?" "Why did you try and save the store?" "I didn't _try_ to save the store, I _did_ save the store." the man corrected him. "And I guess I did it because doing nothing would be wrong. Plus, I need to keep a job to pay the bills, can't let it get robbed or I'll get paid less." The man chuckled. Jordan asked "Who are you?". The man stopped laughing. "I'm no one special. Now get to school, kid."

Jordan turned to face the man, but he was faced with nothing but empty air. He shuddered. "Creepy." he thought. Until he saw the man a few yards to the left, hobbling into an old apartment building. He turned to start walking to school, but glanced back at the man. He sighed, knowing what he would do next. he turned back around and began to follow the man into the building.

 _ **Well, here you go, the fourth chapter for all 3 of the people following this story. However, I would really appreciate some feedback from any one who's liking this so far. Just a review, or a PM. Please?**_


	5. Chapter 5

Jason sat on his bed once more, quietly pondering the boy's questions. Why _had_ he been so brave ? He'd nearly died! He called his boss to let him know what had happened, and that he would be taking the rest of the day off. He sighed, and grabbed the first aid kit. He still had to take care of that bullet wound in his shoulder, before it got infected. He slid his shirt off, and took a wasn't a very bad wound, and the bullet hadn't actually entered, just grazed got started cleaning the wound.

Jordan crept up the stairs, shivers running down his spine. He slowly opened the door the man had entered, careful not to make a sound. He was scared, but he felt that he just _had_ to know who this mysterious man was. As he peered around the corner, he could see the man had his shirt off, and was rubbing a spot on his stomach. He seemed to be... crying?

Jason was indeed crying. He was rubbing the spot on his stomach where Joker had thrown a knife all those years ago. He hadn't wanted it to scar, but it had. And now it served as a reminder of his failure. He was sobbing again. He didn't want to, but he had to look. He pulled out the suitcase from under his bed, and clicked it open. In it lay his old Robin suit.

Jordan scooted closer. The man had stopped crying, and had pulled out the suitcase. The man was staring at something in it. He suddenly pulled out the contents of the case. It was... a bathing suit? No, it looked familiar. Like something he'd seen in Local History class... Jordan gasped, and fell backwards, realizing what it was. The Robin Suit.

Jason's nostalgia was interrupted by a thud behind him. He turned, and saw the boy from the store, crouching behind a corner. His eyes darted between the boy and the suit in his hands. He dropped it, and began to run towards the boy.

Oh, crap. The man had seen him. He looked angry, and was approaching fast. He got to his feet, and darted away. He ran as fast as possible, down the stairs and out the door. He didn't stop until he was a block away from the apartment building. He sweated and began breathing heavily, walking towards his school. He knew he shouldn't tell any one, but Olivia _had_ to know about this.

Jason watched as the boy ran down the street, an angry look on his face. Somehow, he knew the boy wouldn't tell anyone, but he had to be sure. He grabbed his cell phone, and dialed a number.

" Hello?" said Barbara.  
"It's me."  
"Oh, Jason, you know how I feel about you calling me while I'm at work!"  
"It's important. Two of your students were skipping today. Jordan Kyle, and someone named Jerry. The Kyle kid followed me home, now he knows who I am and where I live."

"WHAT!? Jason, this is serious. I'll talk to him, but I can't- wait,did you say Jordan Kyle?"  
"Yeah, so what?"  
" I know him well. He won't tell anyone, except his friend Olivia, and she won't tell anyone."  
"What makes you so sure?"  
"Simple. He's Selina's son. And he's best friends with Olivia Rose Quinn, A.K.A the daughter of Harley. "

Jason groaned internally. Of course. Selina had retired, and had a family. After the explosion, Harley had lost alot of memories of her time as Harley Quinn due to head trauma. She had eventually become friends with the Bat-family, even helped them for a short time before changing her identity and starting a family with Dick. Jason winced. Oh, how he missed Dick.

"Get Selina and Harley to the cave as soon as possible. We need to talk."

 _ **Reactions? reviews? Anything?**_


	6. Chapter 6: A Crazy Idea

_**Big thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Leave another review...**_

Jordan walked slowly into his home, careful not to make a sound. By the time he had gotten to school, the day had been pretty much over, and he was given a detention and a call home.

He knew his mom would be waiting.

He continued to walk carefully, walking heel to toe and spreading his weight to walk silently, how his mother had taught him.

"Jordan Bruce Kyle."

He whipped his head around to face his mother who was standing directly behind him, arms crossed.

"Hey Mom."

"Don't 'hey mom' me. You know what you've done, and you know what the punishment is. You are grounded until further notice."

With that, she walked sternly away.

Jordan never understood his mother. She never yelled, but she sure knew how to make him feel bad about things. He sighed, and sat on his bed, tugging his shirt off. Time for bed.

 _ ***Two hours later**_

Selina slinked over to the entrance to her son's room.

He was sprawled on the bed, out like a light.

Good.

She quietly closed the door, and headed for the car.

Time for that meeting.

She drove for what felt like forever, until she arrived at the place she was looking for.

The charred remains of Wayne Manor.

After Bruce's death,many people had rioted here, but it was Scarecrow who finally did it in.

It was the first of many unstopped fear bombings in Gotham.

Nowadays it was common for people to own gas masks, because Scarecrow regularly dropped bombs of gas on the city.

She shuddered, remembering the one that had happened when Jordan was 5.

It had been just a little after Bruce's death, and things were just starting to fall apart. She had been able to maintain some small sort of normalcy with Jordan, shielding him from the now ever-present madness in Gotham.

They had been in the living room, playing hide and seek.

"Where are you you little rascal!" She had said.

She knew where he was, the giggling of his sweet little voice had told her, but she had pretended she didn't.

To this day, she regretted not just finding him.

The entire window was destroyed in an instant, shards of glass spraying everywhere.

Jordan had screamed, and she had tried to run to him.

It was too late.

She was knocked to her feet, and the green mist hissed it's way into the room.

Pure terror had been the only emotion that night.

She remembered Jordan's face when the hallucinations started.

And when she had started convulsing.

She shuddered, not wanting to remember any more of that horrible night. Now such fear bombings were commonplace in Gotham, and in nearly every home, gas masks could be found. Not that it helped with the suddenness of the attacks.

She sighed, and turned the key as the engine quieted.

She looked around to make sure no one was looking, then descended into the charred mess.

The Batcave had survived.

There they were, all sitting at the center table, Jason with a scowl on his face. Harley, with her thin smile that had wrinkled just a bit over the years. Barbara, who had never stopped supporting their team, despite being the first to quit because of the fights with Dick.

As she walked over to the table, an idea crept into her head. It was crazy.

And yet, it just might save Gotham.


	7. Chapter 7: an argument

" A new Batman."

Those were the words she had said, somehow thinking it was a good idea. Now she could see how wrong she was.

"Are you crazy!?" shouted Jason.

"What? Gotham needs it, and we give it."

Barbara spoke up. "Yes, Gotham does need it badly, but who would we even get to do it? Who could we even trust?"

Selina bit her lip, unsure of what she was about to say.

"Well, I was considering my son as an option..."

They all stared at her.

"What? He's strong, and I've trained him from a young age in the ways of stealth and agility. A little training, and he should be good to go!"

Barbara sighed.

"Look, Selina. We appreciate the offer, really, but we can't just ask you to send your son out there all alo-"

"He doesn't have to be." a voice interrupted.

They turned their heads, and saw that Harley had spoken.

"My...my daughter. She is an amazing acrobat, and has all he skills she needs, minus some training. Since she is already friends with Jordan..."

Jason stood up.

"Let me be the voice of reason. We live in Gotham City, a place that has fallen apart and is a haven for criminals. Yet you two want to just send out a couple of kids, your own children, to try and save it? Insane! This city is beyond saving, I think."

"Bruce would have wanted it." said Barbara quietly.

Anger flared up in Jason.

"Don't try and tell me what he would have wanted! I kept fighting for his city, unlike _you_ who just had to quit right away! So don't try and act all loyal now!"

"You know why I quit!" Barbara yelled back.

"Because of some dumb arguments!? That's an excuse?"

"At least Bruce understood, unlike you! You are the reason he's dead to begin with! _You_ have a responsibility for this city, and you need to help it! Think Jason! Would Bruce have wanted you to sit here and let his city rot because _you_ failed!?"

Jason winced, and Barbara knew her words had cut deep.

"Fine. Send your kids out there, train 'em, do whatever. Just don't expect me to help."

With that, he stood and left, leaving them all quiet.

It was Harley who broke the silence.

"So when do we start?"

 _ **Well, what will happen now... leave a review!**_


	8. Chapter 8: Forgiveness

Jason stormed from the room, outrage rising in his chest.

How _dare_ they!

Sure, Gotham was falling apart, but what did they really think they could do? Send out a dumb school-skipper and an acrobat and call it some sort of safety?

Barbara, Selina, even Harley all were great people, but they could make some really dumb decisions.

Oh, Barbara. He had said some really mean things back there, things he knew would sting. And she was wrong. He _did_ understand. It had been a hard time after Bruce's death, it had hit them all hard. Even before his death, Barbara had been thinking about leaving, after Joker had nearly killed her. Dick had been so upset, and that's when the arguments had started.

It had gotten so bad, they had fought. Physically.

It had been short, nothing but a tussle, but they both realized that she had to leave now, before things got worse. It wasn't as if Dick had really been himself anymore, good ol' Dick would never hurt Barbara. But after Bruce's death...he was never the same, until he lay on the ground bleeding, dying.

"Sorry."

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him. Barbara stood there, her eyes glistening on the brink of tears.

"I'm sorry about what I said back there. None of this is your fault, I just...for the first time, I felt like I could have hope for the city.I didn't want that to go away."

Jason sighed.

"I'm sorry had to leave, I understood."

"It's okay."

She gave a small hint of a smile, then drew Jason into a warm hug.

"Now let's go save that city."

 _ **Before you ask, NO, I will not have a romance between Jason and Barbara...unless you guys really want to. Let me know in the reviews!**_


	9. Chapter 9: Midnight call

Jordan looked up,and peered out the window.

Yep, she was gone.

He had heard her say she was heading out tonight.

He dug under his pillow and grabbed his phone, squinting as the brightness hit his eyes.

He quickly typed in the number.

"Come on, come on..." he muttered a the monotone ring continuing in his ear.

He finally heard a click, and then a groggy voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey Liv, it's me, Jordan."

"Jordan? What are you calling me for in the middle of the night for?"

"Okay, you know how me and Jerry skipped today?"

"Yeah, was really angry when she found out."

"She found out? Oh, whatever, I have something important. You know how your mom has that...secret?"

"Yea." Harley had told her daughter as soon as she was old enough to keep a secret, so not to have anything hidden that might hurt their relationship.

"I found Robin."

There was a pause, a stunned silence, on the other end.

"What the hell do you mean you 'found Robin'!?"

"Long story, but I followed this guy into his house-"

"And you know where he _lives!?"_

"Yes! Anyway, I followed him in, and the next thing I know, he's sitting on his bed holding the Robin suit!"

Olivia breathed out.

"Who have you told?"

"Only you, I don't trust anyone else."

"Good. Don't tell anyone else about this until we get a chance to investigate."

"Investigate? What do you-"

"Meet at the library this Saturday, at midnight."

"Uh, Liv, the library got burned down, remember?"

A sigh.

"Fine. My house. Got it?"

" Got it."

The phone hung up, and Jordan lay on his back, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

 _ **Again, no romance unless me know what you want! I love reviews...**_


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